iPhone App Finds Trees in NYC's Concrete Jungle

New York City is probably best known for its skyscrapers and millions of people, not the trees that line its avenues. A new iPhone app goes out on a limb to give a little credit to the oaks and maples. And it's doing it thanks to open government data.

If you load up the app in New York City, you'll see a map of trees that are near your location. You can then view additional information about each individual tree, such as its species, its trunk thickness and the nearest address. And for a view of multiple trees, the app shows the reduction of CO2, how much energy is saved by the shade it provides and how many gallons of run-off the trees prevent.

About the author:Adam DuVander
-- Adam heads developer relations at Orchestrate, a database-as-a-service company. He's spent many years analyzing APIs and developer tools. Previously he worked at SendGrid, edited ProgrammableWeb and wrote for Wired and Webmonkey. Adam is also the author of mapping API cookbook Map Scripting 101.